Presentation attracts nearly 100 participants

One woman had been singled out and harrassed because of her sexuality, another for wearing a hijab while walking down the street, but this was the day they would learn the tools to prevent others from experiencing discrimination alone. A hijab is a head covering worn in public by some Muslim women.

Saturday at the Quaker Meeting House in Santa Cruz, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and Muslim Solidarity Group of Sanctuary Santa Cruz conducted a Bystander Intervention Training in an effort to teach how to step up in unity with those being discriminated against.

Taking a page out of protests of old, the form of bystander intervention was modeled after the principles of nonviolence as practiced by Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi.

“There’s a concern over the targeting of Muslims in our country,” Muslim Solidarity Group Co-founder Sheila Carrillo said. “It’s just so telling to see our community’s enthusiasm and interest for being there to step up when needed.”

With almost every seat in the room filled, attendance totaled nearly 100 people.

According to the council’s Andrew Schutts, who led the presentation with Courtney Magus, the group was the largest they have ever had.

Santa Cruz resident Maya Elson attended with her toddler because she said she wanted to be better prepared for being a friend and citizen. Wanting to know what to do in a situation where speaking up may help, Elson said she did not want to freeze should she see someone making a racist comment, or in a potentially violent situation.

“I want to keep my daughter safe and keep my dignity at the same time,” she said. “It is all of our responsibility to take care of one another.”

During the training, attendees took turns reading out loud the principles of nonviolence and bystander intervention. Attendees were given advice on how to be ready — including tips like taking out their headphones, positioning themselves to get a better view and how to move past the “bystander effect” and into action.

Following the presentation, three volunteers re-enacted a scene where a woman wearing a hijab was harassed on a bus. Attendee Lin Colavin said she volunteered because she felt that she would be able to play the part of the woman, since she had attended previous trainings.

“Honestly, I felt very vulnerable,” Colavin said. “I thought, if I was a woman with a hijab — you are so visible. It must be so scary to even be out in public.”

The training, Colavin said, gave her a way to support someone who is vulnerable and is being harmed, if not physically, than emotionally.

For one Muslim mother living in Santa Cruz County, hearing a derogatory comment or slur makes her afraid. S. Karssli, who wears a hijab, she said she has experienced harassment at work, walking in her neighborhood, or driving her car. But it is her children she is mostly afraid for, which is why she said she decided to attend.

“I wanted to be more comfortable, to be able to help myself and my kids,” she said. “I want them to be strong. I ignore it and [harassment] happens — it’s mostly verbal, and it does affect me. I don’t want this to happen to my kids. I can handle it, but I don’t know what my kids will do.”

That is why it was important for her to bring her 8-year-old daughter, Karssli said.

Following the presentation, attendees were given the opportunity to practice remaining calm in the face of harassment. Participants were coached specifically to not judge the reaction of the targeted person, and to respect their autonomy and wishes before sitting next to, or touching them.

Attendee Jerry McMullen said he wanted to be available to support and be a witness to others in situations that could potentially become dangerous.

“I feel I have a certain amount of privilege being male and an European-American,” McMullen said. “I am recognizing that more and more that people who don’t have this privilege are being targeted increasingly under our current political environment.”